week 8 Medieval Theatre Flashcards
Mystery Plays
- Religious vernacular drams of biblical tales
- outdoors
- guilds in northern England
- confraternities on the Continent
Vernacular Drama
- language of the people
- no longer Latin from the Middle Ages
- The shift from Latin to Vernacular language made theatre more accessible to ordinary people
Morality Plays
- Medieval dramatic form
- allegorical characters
- moral lessons
- PROFESSIONAL PERFORMERS
Cycle Plays
- series of interconnected plays
- depict ENTIRE biblical narrative
- performed by pageant wagons
Guilds
- Associations of Craftsmen & Merchants
- In medieval towns where mystery plays
Folk Drama
- Secular theatre
- comedic and secular theatre
- PROFESSIONAL players at courts
Pageant Wagon
- mobile stage
- MYSTERY PLAYS
- travelled through towns during festivals
Adam de la Halle
- French playwright
- secular dramas
- “The Play of Robin and Marion”
Liturgical Drama
- early religious plays
- LATIN
- church settings
- dramatized biblical events
High Middle Ages
- Folk drama and Farce flourish
- CAUSES the employment of professional performers at royal courts
Confraternities
- religious brotherhoods
- mystery plays
relationship between secular and religious dram
- secular theatre influenced religious plays
- religious plays influence secular theatre
ELEMENTS OF BOTH APPEAR IN CYCLE PLAYS
Significance of the Renaissance
- an era of transition from medieval to modern theatre
- emphasis on humanism
- revival of classical texts
Pantomimed Tableaux
- Silent scenes
- exaggerated gestures
- often used in street pageants to honour visiting monarchs
Commedia dell’arte
- improvisational theatre
- Italy origin during Renassance
- Stock Characters and scenarios
Middle Ages
Medieval theatre flourished before the transition into the Renaissance
Liturgical Drama
- LATIN
- CHURCH SETTINGS
- RELIGIOUS SERVICES
*eventually evolved into more elaborate productions outside church settings
Mystery or Cycle Plays
- DRAMATIZED BIBLICAL PLAYS
- “Creation” to the “Last judgement”
OUTDOORS
VERNACULAR - for broad audience
Ex. The Second Shephards’ Play
- Wakefield Cycle
Morality Plays
- moral life of individuals
- allegorical
PERSONIFICATIONS OF VIRTUES AND VICES
Ex. Everyman
- themes of death and salvation
Hrosvitha of Gandersheim
FIRST KNOWN FEMALE PLAYWRIGHT
- Christian plays
- Latin
- modelled after Roman playwright Terence
Ex. Dulcitius and Paphnutius
Pageant Wagons
- Movable stages
- Cycle plays
Two-story wagons
multiple locations during festivals
Feast of Corpus Christi
- religious festival
- late spring
- MOST POPULAR OCCASION FOR CYCLE PLAYS
- stage for connecting biblical stories to Christian teachings on salvation
The Second Shepherds’ Play
WAKEFIELD CYCLE (Towneley Cycle)
Humourous and religious drama
- shepherds visit newborn Christ, juxtaposing comic elements with holy narrative
Anachronism in Mystery Plays
- representation of historical characters
- events in medieval context
Ex. OLD TESTAMENT FIGURES depicted as medieval Christian serfs in Cycle plays
Episodic Structure
A type of dramatic structure featuring a series of loosely connected events or episodes.
Ex. The Second Shepherds’ Play where comic and serious elements intertwine.
Byzantine Theatre
- Theatre of the Eastern Roman Empire
*Popular entertainment similar to Roman Mime and gladiatorial contests
CONTRIBUTED TO
- Preservation of classical Greek drama manuscripts, which later influenced the Renaissance.
Feudalism
Political and Social system in Medieval Europe
Social classes
- LORDS
- VASSALS
- SERFS
*INFLUENCED SOCIAL HIERARCHY within Medieval dramas, such as Cycle Plays
Gothic Architecture
- Church Architecture
- larger spaces + higher ceilings
*INFLUENCED WHERE LITURGICAL DRAMAS WERE PERFORMED - Pointed arches
- buttressed walls
Jean Bouchet
French pageant master
- organized large-scale theatrical productions
Outlined duties of
- overseeing scenery
- rehearsing actors
